pickup suggestion for dk2

[MichaelLitvak]

hey people

i bought an imported pile o' skulls dinky 2 about 6 - 7 months ago..
the pickup configuration is h/s/s and it has stock ducan designed pickups

first.. the guitar is a little thin sounding.. i dont know if its the weight/shape/configuration of the guitar or the pickups
with the humbucker i am able to get heavy pantera tones and it doesn't sound bad so i decided to leave as it is..

the single coil neck pickup is pretty nice for cleans.. i like the creamy clean sounds but once i turn on distortion.. pure shit
i have a few questions about the neck pickup..

1. what makes the creamy clean sounds i get now? the pickup it self or the position of the pickup? because there is the exact same pickup in the middle position and it sounds completely different

2. if i get a better or perhaps a hotter pickup.. will i still get these nice creamy cleans plus the distortion?

3. what i am really looking for is just a single coil that will sound good on distortion.. looking for creamy sound like gary moore .. i am able to get now with the tone all the way down but its not the same ..
so what do you suggest? how's the hot rails? people said good stuff about it like the nice thick tone and sustain..


see its a bit of a problem.. i'm getting amazing cleans with that neck pickup and bad distortion.. i dont wanna lose that clean sound but i also want to gain the distortion.. so is there anyway to get both

[Nazgul]

Dimarzio YJM. It's the one Malsteen uses. If you like his sound get it. Joe Stump also uses it in all of his guitars and you can hear it in his lessons.
The pickup is not very high output but has that creamy, shredderish, clear sound. If I had a guitar with a neck single coil, I would definetly buy one ASAP.

[Dave L]

I´ve always liked the Cool Rails better than the Hot Rails, so I think you should get a Cool Rail and wire it for splitting with a push/pull-pot and you get two usable sounds out of the neck position... both the smooth humbucker tone for the distortion sounds and the chimier singlecoil tone for the cleans.

[MichaelLitvak]

hmm
im pretty much a newbie i dont want it to get too complicated.. just put in a pick up instead of the old one.. wire it as it was before and thats it

well im not puttin in the pickup by myself so if i go to the guitar store and tell them what you told me.. they shouldnt have a problem doing it right?

the two sounds in neck position sounds cool its just that i dont wanna make it complicated because if a pot needs to be added.. there has to be drilling through the finish and i dont want that

[Dave L]

Nope, no drilling. Just replace your current regular volume-pot with a push/pull-pot and you´ll be fine.

[DonP]

If you really like the cleans, I suggest you keep the axe as-is and purchase an EQ pedal for the front end of the amp when you want neck distortion. With the EQ, you can dial in the tone you like, and it will cost about the same as the pickup swap (or less).